The present invention relates in general to enabling business transactions in computer networks.
Certifying authorities are known that generate public key certificates, enciphered with the private key of the certifying authority, that serve as letters of introduction of a particular party to any other party that can recognize the certifying authority as an introducer. The certifying authority typically makes the party seeking the certificate of introduction to prove that it is who it says it is, and then the certifying authority accepts the public key of the party and returns it in the certificate of introduction encrypted in the private key of the certifying authority, thereby binding the name of the particular party to the public key of the party.